Monday, November 28, 2016

The Centre’s demonetisation decision has led to a slight dip in the sale of air tickets, a top functionary of a private airline has said, but agreed with the government’s assertion that it is too early to relate the two.

Government sources, meanwhile, said there had been a surge in cash bookings after the demonetisation move but said they would “wait and watch” before commenting on the financial impact of the move on air-travel.

There are preliminary indications that so far there may have been a 10 per cent dip in air-travel bookings, but airlines are watching the situation closely before arriving at a conclusion. “It is too early to say. There is a slight dip in demand but it is not alarming as of now. We will have to see what the impact will be in the coming days,” a top executive of a private airline said.

The cash-surge in bookings was seen after the government had initially allowed the use of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for air-travel bookings, following which the government put out a rider that the tickets sold through this would be non-refundable.
28/11/16 The Asian Age